Note: These are audio-only recordings. The syllabus document containinig speaker handouts is not included. That was separately provided to conference attendees.

A highly successful conference is concluded!

Customer support for attendees is now being provided by SGGS. Email SGGS at sggs@sggs.us.

What's New?

Der Blumenbaum – Effective immediately, Der Blumenbaum will be published three times a year instead of four. The new publication months are July for volume 1, November for volume 2 and March for volume 3. Issue size will vary depending on included content. The next issue is expected to to be mailed in late October.
Correction – The January 2019 issue of Der Blumenbaum contains an error one article: Ingeborg Carpenter, mother of two American Children, becomes a natualized U.S. citizen. Download corrected article.
GIACR – SGGS has just purchased six additional volumes of the Germans Immigrants in American Church Records series for donation to the Sacramento FamilySearch Library. Scroll to the bottom of this page for more information.
New DB Index – Shirley Riemer just completed an update to the Der Blumenbaum index, now posted on the Society Documents page in the members-only section. This new version is current to Volume 36, Number 2 (Oct. 2018).
The SGGS Blog – SGGS now has its own Blog! Marilyn Simleness, the new Membership Director, wanted to find a way to reach out to more of our members in an interactive way. It is in its infancy, but our new blog has great potential for growing our organization, welcoming new members, and responding to concerns or questions of our members. At first, posts will be made on a weekly basis. We hope you will take the time to check out The SGGS Blog!
German Mentors have Returned! – SGGS is working with the Sacramento FamilySearch Library (Eastern Ave.) to restart the Thursday afternoon German mentor program there. With one volunteer currently available, the first session occurred 1 to 4 pm Thursday Sept. 27. And repeats every 4th Thursday. Additional weeks will be added if additional mentors can be recruited.

GIACR Project

"This series is one of the most important, most professional, immigrant identification databases published in the last 100 years."

Publisher Lewis Bunker Rohrbach

Since 2005, Dr. Roger Minert and his group at Brigham Young University have been transcribing, indexing and publishing German-American church records in a series of volumes called German Immigrants in American Church Records [GIACR]. A current list is presented below. All are Protestant records.

This table will be updated as new volumes become available. Revised: Sept. 3, 2019

On the shelf at the Sacramento FamilySearch Library		Future Volumes
Vol. 1: Indiana Vol. 2: Wisconsin Northwest Vol. 3: Wisconsin Northeast Vol. 4: Wisconsin Southwest Vol. 5: Wisconsin Southeast Vol. 6: Nebraska Vol. 7: Iowa West Vol. 8: Iowa Northeast Vol. 9: Iowa Southeast Vol. 10: Illinois North Vol. 11: Illinois, Cook County and Chicago Vol. 12: Illinois Central Vol. 13: Illinois South Vol. 14: Illinois St. Clair County Vol. 15: Michigan, excluding Detroit Vol. 16: Detroit, Part I Vol. 17: Detroit, Part II Vol. 18: Minnesota, North & South Dakota Vol. 19: Missouri (excluding St. Louis city & county)	Vol. 20: Missouri, St. Louis County, St. Louis City I Vol. 21: Missouri, St. Louis County, St. Louis City II Vol. 22: Missouri, St. Louis County, St. Louis City III Vol. 23: Missouri, St. Louis County, St. Louis City IV Vol. 24: Missouri, St. Louis County, St. Louis City V Vol. 25: Missouri, St. Louis County, St. Louis City VI	Vol. 26: Northwest Ohio Vol. 27: Ohio (Toledo) Vol. 28 Northeast Ohio

Shelf at the Sacramento FamilySearch Library.

Click on the image for a larger view:

This project has been funded by Brigham Young University and some private donors. Unfortunately, said funding has lapsed beginning 2016. So last year SGGS provided a donation to help sustain their 2016 operation and appealed to readers of Der Blumenbaum to do the same. Click here to view a thank-you from the project staff. As volumes became available, SGGS has been purchasing one of each for the Sacramento FamilySearch Library (on Eastern Ave).

For SGGS members, more information can be found on page 11 of your July 2015 issue of Der Blumenbaum. But the donation instructions in that article turned out to be incorrect. If you would like to make a personal donation to this project, mail a check payable to "Religious Education BYU" to the following address. Be sure to also mention you're donating to the GIARC project.

Prof. Roger P. Minert

270K JSB BYU

Provo, UT 84602-5669

Some GIACR volumes are sold by SGGS at its meetings. Online sources follow.

Click here for Family Roots Publishing (expected to be the new supplier).

Interested in Helping SGGS?

Click here to visit the volunteer opportunities page.

Click here to visit the organizational structure page.

Upcoming Events

Sep 24

Playing Catch-up with German Genealogy – its Tricks, Facts, and Discoveries

SGGS will hold its Study Group at 11 am followed by the general meeting at 1 pm. At 1 pm, Shirley Riemer, editor of the journal Der Blumenbaum, will ask the audience to answer important German genealogy questions. The audience will be in two teams, one on each side of the center aisle. A score will be kept as to which side of the aisle is more successful. Questions will be projected on the screen. So be sure to come for an an entertaining and educational challenge. This program will not be video recorded.

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Oct 22

16 Years of Insights: Protestant Church Records in the U.S. - Roger P. Minert

SGGS will hold its Study Group at 11 am followed by the general meeting at 1 pm. To be presented by Roger P. Minert, A.G., Ph.D.: Whereas most genealogists focus on vital records in cities, counties, and states, extensive study of Protestant church records reveals a much more valuable source for identifying the hometowns of German immigrants. This presentation illustrates insights gained over sixteen years of work in the program entitled German Immigrants in American Church Records. How to access and examine church records are important aspects of this study.

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Nov 9

Family History Discovery Fair

Includes generalogy presentations by local experts and informational tables hosted by local genealogical societies. SGGS will host a table there and our President, Ingeborg Carpenter, will be one of the speakers.

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